1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a novel target shooting capsule comprising a relatively small diameter, nontoxic, soft elastic gelatin capsule. It further relates to a method of target shooting which uses the target shooting capsule containing a water washable, nontoxic dye with an air powered rifle or handgun.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of standard lead or steel pellets for target shooting in small caliber air powered rifles and handguns is well-known. However, such use presents an inherent safety hazard due to the potential ricochet. Additionally, the use of standard lead or steel pellets in air powered rifles and handguns generally limits recreational target shooting to locations of wide-open spaces or specially constructed shooting ranges due to the inherent safety hazard. It is generally unacceptable to conduct recreational target shooting with standard lead or steel pellets in the home, or outside the home in a typical urban/suburban setting. Also, the use of standard lead or steel pellets for target shooting generally requires each participant to utilize a separate target for himself or herself, such as a paper "bulls eye" target, which is subsequently destroyed in the process of target shooting.
Using a soft gelatin capsule in a marking method for marking trees with a marking fluid has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,943. According to that description, the gelatin capsule has a wall thickness from 0.02 inches to 0.03 inches and a diameter of about 0.25 inches to 0.75 inches. The capsule contains from 0.25 cc to 1.25 cc of marking fluid, generally a pigmented liquid such as paint, lacquer or the like, and is useful for marking trees with the marking fluid. However, this marking capsule presents certain disadvantages in other applications such as target shooting. In particular, the amount and type of fluid in the capsule create difficulties in use for target shooting. A main problem is caused by the fact that the shape of the capsule is based on the amount of fluid contained therein. As a result, the capsule is grossly inaccurate for target shooting because the capsule is not spherical. Further, the amount and type of marking fluid create a very large splatter mark, around two inches in diameter, that is suitable for trees but useless for competitive target shooting. Also, breakages of the capsules containing indelible fluids may be difficult to wash clean from clothing or other unintended areas of exposure. Another problem is that these capsules cannot be readily used with conventional air guns. That is, the gun must be modified to conform to the capsules.